This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

Welcome back to week six of our look through 1 and 2 Kings. We are in day one of
our look through this week in 2 Kings 5 again today. You might remember last
week we ended with a beginning of a look at what we can learn about biblical
principles of healing from the life of Naaman.

We looked at the truth that healing grows out of sensitivity to needs. God does
the healing, but he still involves us and our sensitivity to the needs around
us. That healing involves an expression of faith.

It always comes through faith. And that healing does not take a big show that
it's God who's at work and not ourselves. We're going to look at a couple of
additional principles in what we look at today, beginning with what I think is
the most important principle of healing.

Principle number four is healing brings glory to God. That's what healing is all
about. In verse 15, "Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of
God and they stood before him and they said, 'Now I know that there is no God in
all the world except in Israel.

'" "The only God," Naaman says, "in all the world is the God of Israel. " That
was a huge revelation in that day. And that day when every nation had their own
God, every family had their own God.

And to say that another God of another nation could have any power at all, you
would never say that. But he's not even saying that. He's saying he's the only
God, one God.

Glory is brought to God through this healing. Naaman doesn't praise Israel's
king or the waters of the Jordan. He doesn't even praise the prophet Elisha.

He gets it. He gives glory to God. If the glory goes to anyone but God, you know
something is wrong.

God may have done the work. Sometimes people try to steal God's glory. They
can't in the end.

But if the glory goes to anyone but God, you know that pride is involved. I know
that personally as we talk about healing, as we're talking about these
principles, they may be very, very deep to you, very personal to you because you
or someone you love is facing a need for healing. And we talked last week about
the fact that the healing of our relationship with God can happen right now.

That healing can happen right now. It's guaranteed by the cross and resurrection
and by many, many promises of God. Instant healing of our relationship with God.

And God is glorified in that moment. But what about the need that you might
have, someone you love might have, for emotional or mental or physical or
relational healing? Well, the truth is, one day God will heal that need and be
glorified.

For some it will be on this earth. For even more, it will be in eternity. But in
the end, the glory will go to God.

You can guarantee that. And when you and I make this personal and recognize that
healing is about God and not about me, when I get the perspective that healing
is about God's glory more than even my need, God cares about your need, but
healing is about God's glory more than even your need, it can protect me from
false teaching about healing. No one can tell me I don't have enough faith
because I know that one day God will be glorified.

No one can tell me that God doesn't care because I know that one day God will be
glorified. No one can tell me to focus on my guilt or blaming someone else
because I know that one day God will be glorified. This is the protection that
we need when it comes to this truth about healing, but it's more than that.

It's also the attitude of heart we need when God does heal. So I don't say it's
because of this person or this prophet or this thing or the waters of the
Jordan, but I realized only God gets the glory. Only God gets the glory.

When Jesus talked about healing with his disciples, they were confused. They
thought somebody was sick because of their sin, and Jesus said that's not why
they're sick. You don't understand.

The reason they're facing this illness is so that God can be glorified by
healing them, and the truth is whatever illness you're facing, whatever struggle
you're facing, one day as a follower of Jesus, God's going to be glorified by
healing that in your life. I hope and pray with you that it's on this earth, but
I know. I have the guarantee in Scripture that it will be in eternity.

When you think about healing, you recognize the truth that healing is all about
glorifying God, and then there is a fifth truth about healing that we need to
hear. We need to be aware of because you might be aware that there is a whole
false teaching about healing out there. It revolves around the health and wealth
gospel that God has to make you well, that God has to make you rich.

When so much of the world is in pain, when so much of the world is in loss, that
truth is easy to say, but you cannot back it up by Scripture, and you even see
this truth exemplified in the healing of Naaman. The fifth principle is healing
is not for human profit. It's not to profit us.

Verse 15 and 16, "Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God
and stood before him and said, 'Now I know that there is no God in all the world
except in Israel. Please accept now a gift from your servant. ' The prophet
answered, 'As surely as the Lord lives whom I serve, I will not accept a thing.

' And even though Naaman urged him, he refused. " So Elisha wouldn't accept a
gift for the working of this miracle, not for profit. Now if that's not clear
enough, listen to what happens beginning in verse 18.

"Go in peace," Elisha said. "After Naaman had traveled some distance, Gehazi,
the servant of Elisha, the man of God, said to himself, 'My master was too easy
on Naaman, this Aramean, by not accepting from him what he brought. As surely as
the Lord lives, I will run after him and get something from him.

' So Gehazi hurried after Naaman, and when Naaman saw him running toward him, he
got down from the chariot to meet him. 'Is everything all right? ' he asked.

'Everything is all right,' Gehazi answered. 'My master sent me to say, 'Two
young men from the company of the prophets have just come to me from the hill
country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two sets of
clothing.

' 'By all means, take two talents,' said Naaman, and he urged Gehazi to accept
them, and then tied up the two talents of silver in two bags with two sets of
clothing. He gave them to two of his servants, and they carried them ahead of
Gehazi. When Gehazi came to the hill, he took the things from the servants, and
he put them away in the house.

So he sent them in away, and they left. Then he went in, and he stood before his
master Elisha. 'Where have you been?

' Gehazi asked. 'Your servant didn't go anywhere,' Gehazi answered. But Elisha
said to him, 'Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot
to meet you?

Is this the time to take money, or to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards,
flocks, herds, or man servants, or maid servants? Naaman's leprosy will cling to
you and your descendants forever. ' Then Gehazi went from Elisha's presence, and
he was leprous, as white as snow.

This servant of Elisha learned this lesson the hardest, the most difficult of
ways. He began to suffer from the same illness that Naaman had suffered from.
God is saying, as clear as a bell, profit cannot be the motive.

It cannot be even the accepted result of the miraculous work of God. Watch out
when healing is used as a way to build attendance, or to build offerings, or to
build an audience. It does not fit the teaching of the scripture.

Elisha was concerned about being a prophet, not making a prophet. Elisha was
concerned about the glory going to God, and when you take the prophet, when I
take the prophet from the healing, the glory goes to me. It doesn't go to God.

So the invitation here is to trust in God. We've talked about some of these
principles of healing the last few days, but the invitation behind all of it is
to trust God for the healing that you need in your life, the healing that you
need to see happen in your family. So let's just walk through this again.

You need to be sensitive to the needs that are around you, praying for people
that are hurting, getting them to a place where they can trust in God for the
hurt that they're facing in their life, letting them know that God is
trustworthy. As you walk through this, you want to help the person who is
suffering, who is struggling to come to a place of faith. You can't have faith
for someone else.

They can only have faith for themselves. You can pray for them to have faith.
You can get them to places like church, where the scripture is being taught, or
listening to the word of God being taught in different places, where they can
let God's words sink into their lives.

But in the end, they're going to have to have faith. Trust that only God can do
this work. As you walk through this, don't look for any great show.

Don't let somebody fool you with false teaching that you have to be in some
great spectacular show for the healing to happen. Instead of that, recognize
that the healing is all about glorifying God in the end. And God is often
glorified in these quiet moments of life where he does this miraculous work of
life.

And in the end, it's not about some person making a profit. If that's what's
happening, if you feel any of that happening, then you know God's not in it. Get
back to where you need to be, to that place of faith, that place of trust, that
place where you're trusting God and not some human being, because he's the only
one you can trust for a healing.

He's the only one you can trust for a miracle. Our Father, as we pray, we trust
you with this hurt that we're facing, that the person that we love is facing.
And God, we know you are trustworthy.

We believe your promise that one day all physical, emotional, mental problems
will be healed. And that's why we've trusted in you, Jesus, because we look
forward to that day. We also know that you heal oftentimes on this earth to give
glory to yourself, to give us opportunities to serve, to show the world what
you're like.

And God, we make ourselves available. We want to trust in you, not in ourselves,
and give glory to you and not ourselves. So we ask you humbly, as your child,
would you work this miracle?

Lord, however you work, in whatever way you work, we will continue to praise
you, because you are the one who we trust. In your name we praise you. Amen.